Chapter 59: Zheng Guo'en's Mission

After disposing of the bodies of Liu Guoquan and his companion, the old man disguised himself as a man in his forties and returned to Tianyin Alley.

Taking advantage of the empty alley, the old man nimbly vaulted over the wall and returned home. Shedding his disguise, he revealed a handsome face.

"Another sleepless night," Song Yingge muttered, stretching lazily.

Last night, Song Yingge had numerous opportunities to kill Liu Guoquan, but out of caution, he had lured him to the outskirts before striking.

It took five or six days to travel from Jinling to Chang'an, and at least another eight or nine days before Liu Guoquan's family would realize he was missing.

This time lag provided the best possible protection for Song Yingge.

Furthermore, eight or nine days would be more than enough time for the river fish to completely devour the two bodies.

By then, neither hide nor hair would be found.

Liu Guoquan's family would undoubtedly waste precious time searching for a living person rather than scavenging for corpses.

Before long, all evidence would be buried by the passage of time.

Even taking a step back, supposing it was discovered that Liu Guoquan's last known whereabouts involved the old man—

So what? How could anyone possibly connect the old man to Song Yingge?

After freshening up, Song Yingge grabbed breakfast at the end of the alley before heading over to Caodu Alley.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard on Caodu Alley, he spotted a haggard-looking Zhao Changjing.

"Well, well, how much did you drink last night to end up looking like a complete mess?" Song Yingge teased.

"One has to accept aging. Next time, I'm sticking to rice wine; this sorghum liquor packs a serious punch." Zhao Changjing didn't even have the energy to snap back.

"That won't do. If I recall correctly, you poured quite a few drinks down my throat yesterday, didn't you?"

"Brother Song, can't an older brother just concede defeat?"

Exchanging banter, the two men walked into the administration building.

Just then, they ran into Zheng Guoen, head of the Third Intelligence Group, hurrying downstairs with a few of his men.

"Well, Team Leader Zheng is truly youthful. I remember you drank quite a bit yesterday too, yet you can still sprint around like this. Impressive," Zhao Changjing chuckled and joked.

"My eyebrows are practically singed with fire; I don't have time to exchange pleasantries with you," Zheng Guoen replied without breaking his stride.

Song Yingge watched Zheng Guoen's retreating figure with a thoughtful gaze.

Back in his office, Song Yingge saw that Sun Xi was also there. "How did you rest yesterday?" he asked.

"Thank you for your concern, Team Leader. Your subordinate rested very well," Sun Xi replied, feeling pleasantly surprised and flattered.

"Keep a close eye on the interrogation room. There is still plenty of useful information to dig out of Qin Song."

"Rest assured, Team Leader."

After catching a brief nap in his office, Song Yingge went to Dai Li's office.

Pushing the door open, he found Dai Li wearing a grim expression, his foul mood clearly evident.

"Director, what is troubling you?" Song Yingge asked, bracing himself.

Dai Li pointed to a bottle of wine on the desk. "Liu Guomei's wife sent someone to deliver this."

Song Yingge understood instantly. This was Liu Guomei's way of warning Dai Li.

"Your subordinate deserves death."

Song Yingge's face flushed red with visible fury, and he lowered his head to plead for punishment.

"What crime have you committed?" Dai Li observed Song Yingge's reaction, feeling quite gratified.

"The Director devotes heart and soul to the country, yet a mere woman dares to be this audacious. Your subordinate is filled with indignation. As the ancients say, when a ruler is humiliated, his subjects must die. If I fail to avenge this, Yingge will have no face to see the Director again. Once I have killed this wicked woman, I alone will bear all the guilt and punishment, and I shall never dare to implicate the Director."

Song Yingge displayed a righteous fury, deeply humiliated on Dai Li's behalf.

"Foolishness." Though Dai Li rebuked him, he was secretly very pleased by Song Yingge's words.

"Director!" Song Yingge raised his head, locking eyes with Dai Li.

"This must not be done under any circumstances," Dai Li said, his voice turning sharper.

Song Yingge lowered his head. "Then teaching her a small lesson—surely that is acceptable?"

"What kind of lesson?" Knowing that Song Yingge's mind was full of crafty ideas, Dai Li couldn't help feeling curious.

"May I ask the Director, what matters most to a woman of her status?"

Quick-witted as he was, Dai Li naturally understood Song Yingge's implication, but he remained silent, which amounted to tacit approval.

Seeing that Dai Li said nothing, Song Yingge inwardly cursed him as a spineless coward.

He wanted revenge, yet refused to shoulder any responsibility.

Emerging from Dai Li's office, Song Yingge felt restless. Zheng Guoen had left in such a rush; he undoubtedly had a mission.

After mulling it over, he decided to visit the Telecommunications Department first.

The Telecommunications Department had many women who loved gossiping; he might just overhear some useful intelligence.

And if he heard nothing, so be it—Song Yingge would never actively pry.

With his exceptional hearing, before he even reached the Telecommunications Department, Song Yingge heard a group of women in the office discussing the arrest of Gu Ying.

No one had imagined that Gu Ying, who always appeared so dedicated to her work day in and day out, was actually a Japanese spy.

"Do you think there could be a second Gu Ying right here in our Telecommunications Department?"

Whichever scatterbrained woman uttered those words caused the entire room to drop into absolute silence, where even the falling of a pin could be heard.

"Where would there be so many Japanese spies lying around?"

A smile playing on his lips, Song Yingge stepped into the office.

The group turned around, and upon seeing Song Yingge, the atmosphere instantly relaxed.

"If Team Leader Song says there aren't any, then surely there aren't."

"Team Leader Song must have come to see our lovely Chen Meili again."

...

Ordinarily, Song Yingge stood on no ceremony and treated everyone affably. Everyone in the Telecommunications Department enjoyed exchanging a few words with him, making him quite popular.

"You didn't even invite me to yesterday's celebration banquet," Chen Meili complained with a hint of sourness in her tone.

"It was just a bunch of rough men; it wouldn't have been appropriate for you to attend. But how did you find out about it?"

"I was delivering a telegram to Team Leader Zheng earlier, and he told me."

Hearing this, Song Yingge's heart stirred. "No wonder he left looking so flustered; so you were the one rushing him."

"It has nothing to do with me. It was an urgent telegram from Chang'an, and the Director specifically instructed that it be handed to Team Leader Zheng," Chen Meili whispered, leaning close to Song Yingge's ear.

"Don't tell me about these things; I need to avoid suspicion." Song Yingge reached out and gently pushed Chen Meili's pretty face away.

Chen Meili grinned and leaned in again. "Judging by the contents of the telegram, it's bound to be a major achievement. The Director specifically assigned Team Leader Zheng to handle it—could it be that you've fallen out of favor?"

"Whether I've fallen out of favor or not, I'm not sure, but if you keep talking like this, you're the one who's going to fall out of favor," Song Yingge warned.

"When was I ever in favor to begin with?" Chen Meili shot Song Yingge a sidelong glance.

Song Yingge was momentarily at a loss for words. "I can't afford to provoke you, but can't I at least avoid you?"

Stepping out of the Telecommunications Department, Song Yingge could not shake off a heavy feeling in his chest.

The words "Chang'an" and "urgent telegram" strongly suggested that the operation behind them was very likely related to the Communist Party.

With this thought in mind, Song Yingge headed toward the General Affairs Department.

As he passed the Transportation Group, Song Yingge cast a casual glance and saw three trucks parked neatly in a row.

The secret service headquarters only possessed three trucks in total, and having all of them parked here meant there was no large-scale arrest operation underway within the department.

Subsequently, Song Yingge took a stroll through the Operations Department and found that the operatives from all three groups were smoking, chatting, and looking relaxed—hardly the demeanor of men awaiting a mission.

Armed with these two pieces of information, Song Yingge felt somewhat more grounded.

The task Dai Li had assigned to Zheng Guoen was most likely surveillance or shadowing.

As for who the target of the surveillance was, that remained unknown.

However, as long as it was not an arrest mission, even if Zheng Guoen was indeed monitoring comrades from the organization, there was still room for intervention.

This news had to be passed on to Old Zhao as soon as possible so he could verify with the organization whether the Northwest faction had recently dispatched any comrades to Jinling.